Sunday, November 7, 2010

Odin

Odin, the chief divinity and father of all the gods. The almighty ruler of things good and bad, the god of war, death, poetry, wisdom, and magic. Odin is a son of Bor and Bestla (Encyclopedia Mythica).Odin can take on different guises to suit his purposes. Besides his virile warrior appearance, he is seen as an old, one-eyed man leaning on his staff and wearing a wide-brimmed hat covering half of his face. He has a long gray beard and wears a dark blue cloak. (Suite101.com) He has a special connection with the horse, the spear, and the raven. He is usually seen with two ravens named Hugin and Munin which are translated to mean thought and memory. They keep him informed of the activities taking place on earth everyday. (Suite101.com) Odin has the heart of a warrior in which he is the god of war, but war also brings upon death and which he is the god that sends souls to Hel. His blue color of his cloak is the symbol of death in pre-Germanic culture. (Suite101.com) In his appearance as an old gray man this would obviously be a sign of death, from being at such an old age and time in life. It is the symbol of a person being close to death. In order for Odin to gain wisdom he had to sacrifice and eye to drink from the well, and there in the well his eye stayed to show everyone the price he paid to gain this gift. Odin’s main appearance is in the story “The Wanderer.”